Excerpt from Manatees in Trouble
1 A dark shape the size of a car rises to the surface of the water. Two nostrils
appear on a big snout. The nostrils open wide, close, and then disappear. The shape sinks back into the murky waters.
2 What was that thing? A submarine? A swimming couch? It might be hard to guess if you’ve never seen this creature. It’s a manatee—a very different and special animal. Take a closer look.
3 A manatee looks a little like a walrus. Or maybe a dolphin with a flat nose. Like whales, walruses, and dolphins, manatees live their whole lives underwater. But manatees are not related to any of these animals. Manatees are actually more closely related to elephants than walruses!
4 Manatees are part of a group called sirenians (sy•ree•nee•uhns). This group includes three kinds of manatees and another water animal called a dugong (doo•gong). Unlike manatees, dugongs have forked tails.
5 Being a mammal means manatees are warm-blooded. Like us, their body temperature stays the same no matter where they are. If the water is too hot or too cold, they can’t survive.
6 Like most other mammals, manatees give birth to live babies. Manatee babies drink their mothers’ milk. Also, like other mammals, manatees have hair—but only a little bit.
7 Their color can vary from light or dark gray to brown. Sometimes, they look slightly green. That’s because small water plants called algae sometimes grow on manatees’ backs.
8 Most manatees can live in both fresh and salt water. However, all manatees need fresh water to drink.
1 A warm-blooded animal with a backbone whose babies drink milk from their mothers, and usually babies are born live, not from eggs.
2 The animals that keep the same body temperature no matter what the temperature is around them.
